Saturday, November 12, 2016

Wish You Were Here

Close your eyes and make a wish. The world could use some good wishes right
now, so this pairing seems timely. The
“Wish Cube” is the product of two friends, two continents and some time to let
the wish grow. Originally slated for the
Stickman “Apothecary Chest” project, which I (and manyothers) have described
previously, the Wish Cube was to be one of 12 puzzles inside that massive meta-puzzle
box. Johan Heyns, the main man with the
wish, decided the original design wasn’t up to snuff for that project and let
it lapse but never really let it go. As
fate would have it, Johan, who hails from South Africa, had a visit from his
friend Jack Krijnen, a mathematically minded puzzle master from the Netherlands
who is known for designing incredibly complicated, high level interlocking
puzzles. They revisited the Wish design
together, and the puzzle box was finally born anew.

The Wish Cube by Johan Heyns and Jack Krijnen

The Wish Cube is many things. It starts out as a puzzle box, with a secret
drawer that unlocks via a very satisfying and symmetrical series of
movements. This first step, which
requires 26 moves, was perfected by Jack Krijnen to be far more complex, rhythmic
and elegant. Once you discover the
initial moves required it becomes easy to understand and predict the next
steps. It really is a satisfying set of
movements, and the crowning touch is that you must go back to the beginning to
get to the end. It’s quite lovely. The many colorful blocks of wood which compose
the box (made of Mansonia, Pau Marfim and Rhodesian Teak) make the sequence discovery
incredibly fun as you press and prod around the box. Inside the drawer is a pentomino packing
puzzle, with a 3x4x5 shape and 3940 possible configurations! Keeping the pieces
in place is a stabilizing stick of Tambotie, which Johan describes as “an
indigenous wood to South Africa which has a lovely spicy aroma.” After removing the drawer, the 14 sliding
(burr) pieces can be removed with another 29 moves, and finally the entire
frame can be disassembled into 24 separate pieces. Whew! What a wonderful puzzle – it’s a wish
come true.

Stunning South African Exotic Wood

The Wish Cube will likely enter the puzzle box history books,
due to its designer provenance, complexity, beauty and rarity. So here’s an apropos toast with a cocktail originally
created for the Smithsonian’s “Raise a Glass to History” gala, which celebrated
the bicentennial of a famous American flag. The “A Wish for Grace” is a modern classic
from mixologist Steven Liles of San Francisco’s landmark rum paradise,
Smuggler’s Cove. It’s named after Grace
Wisher, the 13 year-old indentured African American servant who helped Mary
Pickersgill sew the Great Garrison Flag in 1813, which is better known as the
“Star-Spangled Banner” – the flag which inspired the U.S. National Anthem and
now hangs in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The cocktail features a New England style pot
still rum and Madeira which would have been prominent and popular at that time
in history. History never tasted so
good. It’s particularly poignant right
now to recall this historic symbol of the freedom that America has stood and
fought for throughout its history. So
close your eyes, raise your glass, and make a wish, wherever you may be in the
world. Here’s hoping all your wishes
come true. Cheers!

A Wish for Grace by Steven Liles

A Wish for Grace by Steven Liles:

1 ½ oz New England style amber rum

¾ oz Blandy’s 5 Yr Verdelho Medeira

½ oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao

¾ oz fresh lemon juice

½ oz rich simple syrup

2 dashes aromatic bitters

Shake ingredients together over ice and strain into a
favorite glass. Garnish with a lemon
twist.

Puzzle box, puzzle bright, solving you will take all night

I wish I may, I wish I might, have this cocktail ease my
plight.

Nota Bene: Johan Heyns made two early prototypes of the Wish Cube. The original was sized to fit as an Apothecary Box drawer (its original intention), and a second prototype of similar design was made as a larger working copy to help develop the more complex final product. There were only 15 final copies of the Wish Cube ever made. Johan will be placing the original two prototypes up for auction in the near future,